Corrected: Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe has tapped the youngest of four vying partners to succeed chairman Ralph Baxter, the firm announced Tuesday.

Mitchell Zuklie, 43, head of Orrick’s global corporate business unit and managing partner of the firm’s Silicon Valley office, will start a 15-month transition process under Baxter’s tutelage and take the of helm of the 1,100 lawyer firm when Baxter steps down at the end of 2013, the Am Law Daily and Legal Week (sub. req.) report. Unlike his predecessor, Zuklie will continue his corporate practice while chairman, according to Thomson Reuters.

Zuklie, a member of the firm’s board of directors, joined Orrick as a lateral partner in 2005, the Am Law Daily reports. He graduated from University of California, Berkeley, School of Law and his practice focuses on the formation, financing and corporate counseling of technology businesses, according to his firm biography.

Baxter, noted by the media as a visionary for change within the profession and the extensive growth of the 149-year-old firm during his tenure, hasn’t announced his next steps, but has considered seeking a role in public service, Reuters reports.